There Was Match Play This Past Weekend?

Hello. Did you hear Geoff Ogilvy won the World Gold Championship Match Play (WGCMP)yesterday? Well, he did.

If you're not interested, I know why. I wasn't either. Maybe it was anti-climatic after all the Winter Olympics action. I just couldn't get into it.

I think I know why. Golf, unlike other sports, is one where people want favourites to win. Everyone wants to see the top players play in the final, like tennis. Unfortunately golf is much more unpredictable.

Unlike stroke play, which rewards the best player over 4 days, match play is much more inconsistent. Players can shoot 75 and win. Or they can shoot 65 and lose.

The players seem to enjoy it. They come from all over the world for this one, even though they may only get one round in, or could play 126 holes (7 rounds) in 5 days, a golf marathon. Thomas Bjorn was the only one of the top 64 to miss the event (due to injury). Conversely, many of them pass up the Mercedes Championships on Maui in January, even though they're guaranteed 4 rounds (no cut) and a paycheck. I've played the Kapalua Plantation course, home to the Mercedes. I cannot figure out why anyone would not want to go there.

One sense I got that the WGCMP is not highly regarded by the media was when Tiger Woods went 14 months without winning a stroke play event. He did win the WGCMP in that stretch, but the media seemed to regard it lightly.

Since it's the only Match Play format on the PGA Tour each year, the casual fan may have a tougher time grasping it.

Here's what I would do to make the WGCMP more interesting - eliminate the 4 brackets. If the #1 ranked player beats #64, and #63 beats #2, then it should be #1 vs #63 the next day. The odds of #63 beating #1 and #2 back-to-back are low, giving more chance to have the higher ranking players advance.

Regards,
Steve

Olympic Good, Bad and Ugly

O Canada! Congratulations to the entire team for a record 24 Olympic medals. If someone would've said we'd beat Russia 10 years ago, I'd have laughed. Now it's come true.

As promised, here is the good, bad and ugly from Turin

The Good
1. Long-track speed skating (what a great job, especially by the women)
2. Short-track speed skating
3. Women's cross-country skiing
4. Skeleton
5. Bobsledding
6. Curling
7. Women's hockey
8. Alpine skiing
9. Women's snowboard cross
10. Moguls
11. Men's figure skating (women's on the horizon?)

The bad
1. Biathlon
2. Men's cross country
3. Men's snowboard cross
4. Ski Jumping
5. Aerials
6. Luge
7. Pairs and dance figure skating
8. Men's hockey team

The Ugly
1. The men's hockey tournament format
There were 30 round-robin games (5 games played by 12 teams) that were meaningless if you were 4th or better in your pool of 6, something relatively easy for a powerhouse team to accomplish (the Czech Republic did it with a 1-3-1 record). The Swedish coach even mentioned it would be best for his team to lose the final round robin game to get a "weaker" playoff opponent. Then 4 important quarterfinal games. Then 2 important games. Then a bronze medal game that may be important to you depending on what country you're from. Then the gold medal game. 38 games, of which 7 are important, 30 unimportant and 1 50/50. Is it just me, or does this stink, especially when the schedule is compressed so a team could play 8 games in 11-12 days. This whole thing (including NHL participation) needs to be reviewed.
2. Jeremy Wotherspoon
3. Emanuel Sandhu
4. Tanith Belbin, a Canadian winning for USA
5. Dale Begg-Smith, a Canadian winning for Australia

Overall, things are good for Canada. If I'm in charge of a Summer Olympics discipline, or one of the "bad" Winter Olympics disciplines, I'm scrambling to see how I can keep up to the others. The bar has been raised, hopefully for good.
As someone who works for an American company, I can proudly say this does wonders for eliminating the Canadian "inferiority complex". Thanks Team Canada for the wonderful memories!

Regards,
Steve

Going Out With a Bang

What a great last couple of days for Team Canada at the Olympics. First, the men's curling team claims gold Friday by making Finland shake hands after 8 ends. Mark Nichols played arguably the greatest game in Olympic curling history. To make every shot with the degree of difficulty he faced was unbelievable. I got to appreciate it even more when I played two games last night, and didn't make as many shots in those games combined as he did Friday.

How do you feel if you're Russ Howard today? In early October he didn't think he'd ever get to play in the Olympics. Now he's on top of the world. As he said Friday, this accomplishment beats the two world championships by a mile. Congrats to everyone on the squad for a great performance.

Today we probably witnessed two of the greatest athletes Canada has ever produced in the same race. Cindy Klassen set a blistering pace to take the lead in the women's 5000m race, only to see the final pair both beat her, with Clara Hughes taking gold. Hughes got her first gold, and 5th medal, 2 of which came in Summer Olympics cycling. She's one of only 4 athletes ever to win medals in both Games. Truly a great Canadian ambassador.

Klassen now has 5 medals this year, and 6 overall, making her Canada's most decorated Olympian. Those counts speak for themselves.

The person who should not be overlooked is Kristina Groves, who finished 6th in the same race. The winner of 2 silver medals, she got a result that in past Olympics we would've been thrilled with. Now, 2 other Canadians beat it! Amazing.

The men's short-track speedskating team came through with 2 silver medals of its own in the 500m individual and 5000m relay. Needless to say, speedskating is thriving in Canada.

Of the now 24 medals Canada has won, 16 have been by women individually and as teams. My wife asked me if I knew why. I think I do. Canada's best male athletes tend to go into sports where they can make a living (ie hockey, baseball, football). Since there are less opportunities for women athletes to earn a living (unfortunately), they are more likely to go into Olympic sports. We are definitely seeing the results.

While the Olympics are drawing to a close, the curling fan can continue to see top-notch play at the Scott Tournament of Hearts. Bring it on!

Congratulations to all in Turin! Tomorrow I'll give a final good, bad and ugly review of Team Canada.

Regards,
Steve

The Weight of Expectations

Congratulations to Teams Canada, Switzerland and Sweden for winning bronze, silver and gold respectively in women's curling today.
Team Canada was very impressive today in beating Norway 11-5 in 8 ends. I knew after hearing Shannon Kleibrink interviewed Wednesday they would be tough. To them a bronze medal meant a lot after losing a chance at gold. Shannon was very composed in her interview, which I took as a good sign.
Switzerland and Sweden certainly showed why they were in the gold medal game. Both teams made very nice shots. When it goes to the 11th end, that says a lot. Sweden won in spite of a couple of questionable strategy decisions. There was no question they deserved it on execution alone.
All the best to Team Gushue Friday against Finland. Canada will be the favourite, but watch out, because Finland has been hot and has nothing to lose.
Which brings up the question of expectations. Canada is going to win at least a bronze Friday to go with a silver in curling. No other country will win 2 medals in curling. All Canadians should take this to mean Canada's #1, right? Wrong. To many the curling has already not met the expectation of 2 golds. If Gushue loses, Canada will be 0-3 in men's Olympic curling gold medal pursuit, and 1-5 overall. They will also be 6-0 in getting a medal. Is this a glass-half-full-half-empty situation?
No matter what, both curling teams fared better than Canada's men's hockey team, which had even more pressure. Is bronze better than the 7th or 8th place Canada will finish in hockey? Of course.
What we have to realize is Canada's expertise is spreading across the globe. No better example exists than freestyle aerials, where the Chinese have two Canadians coaching them. China is now medaling in a sport Canada used to dominate.
What has happened is the world is improving in "our" sports, but we're looking at them with eyes locked in the past. It's time to wake up and realize we're no longer the dominate country in curling and hockey, and take action to regain that title.
Let's celebrate our teams' accomplishments, regardless of the medals (or lack thereof) they achieve. Gushue's medal will give Canada 20 for the Games, a new record, with other medals a possibility. That means an all-time record. That should also mean celebration. Let's enjoy these last 3 days, then think about how to make things even better for 2010.

Regards,
Steve

Mixed Bag

What a day of highs and lows for the Canadian Olympic Team.

The good - Cindy Klassen, Chandra Crawford, Kristina Groves and the 3000m women's short-track speedskating team all medal (well done!), bringing Canada's medal total to 18. Of those, 13 are worn by women. When Crawford won, I balled my eyes out. Her win symbolized to me what the Olympics are about - all the years of sacrifice out of the limelight are repaid on the world's largest sports stage.

The men's curling team survived "must-win Wednesday" by beating the USA. Now they're against a hot, experienced, hungry Finland team. All the pressure will be on Canada, so watch out for Finland. A not-so-bold prediction - there will be no one working in Newfoundland Friday.

The bad - the women's curling team were decisively beaten by the Swiss. Hopefully they'll rebound for bronze against Dordy Nordby and Team Norway. Shannon Kleibrink was all class in her post-game interview, taking the blame and saying a bronze is now an important focus. I like their chances.

One note - it seems the other countries always send the same teams to the curling worlds and Olympics. While our teams get a lot of experience when they win at the Scott, Brier and Olympic Trials, they are somewhat lacking in experience when they get to the world stage. Maybe a "world tune up" tourney in April every year for the 2nd place finishers in each country would help Canadian teams get more international experience.

The ugly - men's hockey team, not for losing, but being shut out for 11 of the last 12 periods. I'm not going to throw stones at them, because I know they're hurting right now.

- women's aerials, for having a 12th place finish. Why are we losing ground in a sport we dominated, while the Chinese, who have taken up all these sports internationally very recently, are shining? Fix the system!

Regards,
Steve

Curlers, Hockey Teams Get Ready for "Must Win Wednesday"

The round robins are over for Olympic curling and men's hockey. It's time for "must-win" Wednesday.

In a way, it's cruel. The hockey teams have played 5 games to position themselves. The curlers have played 9 games. Yet now, it's a "sudden victory" situation - win or go home. For the teams that have struggled, it's a new chance. For the teams who have dominated, there must be some nervousness. From now on, no one will care what you've done.

The worst example of how devastating a loss can be now is the 2002 Sweden men's hockey team. They were destroying opponents until their quarter-final game against Belarus. A 4-3 loss opened the door for Canada to win gold. If Sweden had won that game, I believe they would've been favoured for gold.

Canada now plays the Russian hockey team. It's anybody's game, as the rivalry removes any talent advantage. The Russians have nothing to lose, because Canada was one of the pre-tournament favourites. I expect Russia to play tough, and maybe pull out the win. A loss for Canada would be utter disappointment as no medals would accompany the team home.

In curling, the Canadian women play Switzerland. Hopefully the day's rest will give Canada a healthy squad. Switzerland won the round-robin contest, so this one is up in the air. A loss means Canada would get bronze at best.

The Canadian men play the USA, who they beat on Monday to clinch 2nd. I'm very worried about this game. USA threw the rocks well, but had a couple of questionable strategy calls. If those get ironed out, they will be tough. Again, a bronze medal game for Canada would be unacceptable to most fans.

Get the seat belt on your favourite TV chair ready - it's going to be quite a day.

The 3 sports in the "yet-to-come" category have now been played, and Canada has one for each category. Bobsledding gets in the "good" with silver (men's 2-man) and 4th (women's 2-man). Congratulations!

Ladies figure skating goes into the "bad" column. Canada hasn't had an Olympic medalist since Elizabeth Manley in 1988, and no champion since Karen Magnusson in 1973. Fix the system! There's no way a champion cannot be produced in 33 years.

Freestyle aerials goes in the "ugly" category. How can Canada go from owning this sport (and others) in previous Olympics to being an also-ran? 2 qualifiers in men's and one in women's for the final. Not very good. Fix the system!

Regards,
Steve

Canadian Olympic Curlers Make Playoffs

Hello. Congratulations to both Team Gushue and Team Kleibrink for making the Olympic playoffs. After some disappointing losses (Gushue lost to Italy, Kleibrink to Japan), they came through when they had to. Both teams avoided tiebreakers, which I'm sure is a big relief as health issues have affected both teams. Here's hoping they come out on top in their semi-final games, as that would ensure they would get at least a silver medal.
I can now say the Canadian alpine teams have moved from "bad" to "good" on my list. 3 4th place finishes and some other top 10s hopefully mean they'll be medalling in 2010.
I'm still hurting from the fall Marie-France Dubreuil took in the ice dance on Tuesday. I'm not surprised she couldn't skate today. To hit the ice from that height with no padding has to be painful. She was fortunate to not have any broken bones.
Congrats to Cindy Klassen for another speedskating silver medal. 3 medals in a Games is a tremendous accomplishment. While I think Duff Gibson will carry the Canadian flag in the closing ceremonies, I believe you will be the leading candidate for flagbearer in Vancouver.
Unfortunately Jeremy Wotherspoon makes my "ugly" list for his 1000m performance. This guy is supposed to be a threat in every race. After 600m he had the time to beat. Then as my mom said, he faded faster than ice cream in the summer sun. If you do come to Vancouver, Jeremy, please first share a sports psychologist specializing in peaking at the Olympics with Emanuel Sandhu. Hopefully both of you will get the performances you're capable of.
Also moving to my "ugly" list is Tanith Belbin. Why? Certainly not because of appearance, or where she's from (I have relatives in Gananoque, where her relatives are). Why was Tanith skating for the USA? Why wasn't she in the Canadian skating program with a male Canadian skater for the past 6 years? In a word, ugly. Fix the system!
Finally a big "ugly" to all overwhelming favourites in general and the Canadian men's hockey team in particular. If you want a lesson on how to perform as a favourite, look at the Canadian women's hockey team for your role model. These ladies know how to play as a team, and how to use their talent to dominate. They took a Swedish women's team on a real high from defeating the USA (congrats Sweden on your silver) with a hot goalie today and ran away from them on their way to Olympic gold. Fix the system to get your athletes focused coaches!
Happy rest of the Winter Olympics everyone.

Regards,
Steve

What I've Learned About "The System" in Turin

After Week 1 in Turin, here are some observations I have on Canada's performance:

The Good
1. skeleton (3 medals, one of each colour, plus a 4th)
2. speed skating (3 medals in long, one in short, more to come?)
3. hockey (both teams undefeated, women at least silver)
4. curling (both teams 4-2, tied for 2nd)
5. women's cross country skiing (silver)
6. women's snowboarding cross (bronze and 4th)
7. men's figure skating (bronze and top 10)
8. dance figure skating (a 4th after compulsory)
9. men's (all made finals, one came 4th) and women's (all made finals, gold) moguls

The Bad
1. men's cross country (top 40 would be a thrill)
2. biathlon (Miriam Bedard, where are you and your lasting legacy?)
3. luge (don't we have a track in Calgary to practice on?)
4. ski jumping (first time in Olympics since '92? don't we have at least 2 hills?)
5. alpine skiing (Mr. Read, knowing your sister-in-law can't make me give you glowing praise)
6. pairs figure skating (come back Sale and Pelletier!)

Yet to Come
1. bobsled (good chance here)
2. ladies figure skating (not holding my breath)

The Ugly (alias The System)
1. Apparently Cindy Klassen told her coaches she only wanted to skate 2 of the 4 races in the women's long track pursuit. Why was she skating in the semi, and not the final against Germany? Do you think Germany felt relieved when Klassen, who had beaten all their skaters in the 3000m, wasn't racing? Me too.
2. Dale Begg-Smith, a Canadian, wins gold in men's freestyle moguls for Australia because he can't meet the Canadian system's requirements. Obviously, the Canadian system should be replaced by the Australian system. How do you let the Wayne Gretzky of moguls leave your program?
3. Emanuel Sandhu turns Zamboni again. It was mentioned he's still bitter he wasn't on the 1998 team, even though he was a World Top 10. Due to injury in 2002, this was his first Games. Could you perform at a high level if it was your first experience on the biggest stage, and you were considered a favourite? Neither could I. Would any other country's Olympic committee have done what ours did to Sandhu in '98? Probably not.
4. Jennifer Heil wins moguls for Canada, yet still goes outside our system to get nutritional and therapeutical assistance. Fix our system!

It's been 20 years since Calgary's facilities were constructed. While 11 medals is nothing to sneeze at, why are some of our "bad" categories there? What has to change to make them "good"? Why do we still have "ugly"?

Regards,
Steve

How To Reduce Commuting

I was shoveling the first significant snow of 2006 at 6am this morning, when a question came to my mind. Why am I doing this?

You see, since Nov 1, 2004, I've been a telecommuter. I've been able to continue to work at a large company, yet I always stay at home. Because I'm the only Canadian in my department (maybe I'm a token, I'm not sure), I do not deal with anyone directly, other than by phone or email. As a result, I can avoid the 30km-drive-each-way-that-felt-like-100km commute I used to make.

I know you may not be as fortunate. However, please ask yourself the following 3 questions to see if you can reduce your commute time.

1) Do I have to live here?

If you are not in your dream home, and there is nothing keeping you tied to the community, you may want to consider moving closer to your work. All of us would love to have an extra hour a day in our lives. If you can do it by moving, I personally recommend going for it.

2) Do I have to work here?

As someone who has been told in the past his job was being eliminated, I empathize with anyone who feels they have to stay at a job for security reasons. However, if you like where you live, you may want to put out some casual feelers to see if there are any local jobs you would be qualified for. Again, the time savings may be more than worth it.

3) Can I work where I live?

In talking to the Facilities person at my company, there are very few jobs which cannot be done at home, at least to some degree. Ask your boss if you can work one day a week at home. Get the high-speed access you need (if you're reading this, you probably already have it). See if you can adjust to life away from the office. While I had no problem at all (every day I think of one more benefit to working at home), you could experience an adjustment period. See if working at home part time is rewarding.

By reducing your commute time, you may realize some tangible (saving time and money) and intangible (peace of mind, less stress) benefits.

Now, if only I could get my wife to work from home, I wouldn't have to shovel at 6am anymore.

Regards,
Steve

Howard Brothers Living "The Dream"

Russ and Glenn Howard have done a lot in their curling careers. Both are two-time Canadian and World Champions. They're also the inventors of what has become the "Free Guard Zone", the ability to place guards without having them removed from play by the opposition. Having watched curling both before and after this rule, I can safely say it's the biggest rule change ever to hit curling.

Most people would be happy to have a portion of their success. Not only have they won the titles mentioned above, but Russ is the winningest skip in Brier history. They also won several cashspiels and money titles.

With such great careers, it would be surprising to say that both are doing something new in 2005-2006. Yet that is what has happened for both.

Russ, as you're probably aware, is in Turin/Torino, Italy for the Winter Olympics. What a great way for the almost-50-year-old to cap his career, especially when he thought his chance had disappeared when his team didn't qualify for the Olympic Trials. A phone call from Brad Gushue later, he's attempting to become the first Canadian men's curling team to win Olympic gold.

As for Glenn, he's heading off to the Brier for the first time as a skip, after being there several times as a third. While I know Glenn was thrilled to win with Russ, it's a chance for Glenn to win running the show. Peter Corner told me after he made the Brier skipping his own rink that it was even more thrilling to skip at the Brier than to win the 2 world championships. I'll go out on a limb and say Glenn may have similar feelings, especially after all the years of being referred to as "Brother Glenn".

2 great curlers getting a chance to do something for the first time after all these successful years. Good luck to both of you!

Regards,
Steve

P.S. Good luck to Richard Hart, third on Glenn Howard's team, at the Brier. Richard is going to his first Brier after 2 runner-up finishes with Glenn in 2004 and 2005. I'm sure it will rank up there with his Olympic silver medal obtained with Mike Harris in 1998.

A Canadian Condition?

Well, not a great topic for my first golf post, but here goes. Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters Champion and, with apologies to Stephen Ames, Canada's main golf representative on the PGA Tour for almost a decade, started Sunday's round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at 17 under par. He finished the day at -11, shooting a 78 at Pebble Beach.

Now, most of us would kill for a 78 anywhere, let alone Pebble Beach. But for Weir, who had averaged almost 6 under par the first 3 rounds, to go 6 over Sunday is close to unbelievable. In fact, you'd never get anyone to predict he would balloon like that, especially playing with a player who had never won before Sunday.

Or would you? Weir has not won a tournament since the 2004 Nissan Open. He's had some last-round meltdowns before, the most devastating one being the 2004 Bell Canadian Open, which would've made Weir even more of a Canadian icon than he already is. After this performance, you'd have to wonder if Weir will be a lock to win one tournament a year like he has in the past. Is his best golf already behind him?

Or is this condition one that seems to be inherent to Canadians? Are Canadians able to handle being the favourites in an event? Jennifer Heil did the job in women's moguls on Saturday (congratulations!), but so far she's our only Olympian to come through. Even Canada's only other medal after 3 days, Cindy Klassen's bronze, seemed somewhat disappointing, as two Dutch skaters who had not performed very well in World Cup races this season edged her out. Jeremy Wotherspoon, a gold medal favourite in the men's 500 meters, wasn't even low Canadian, finishing 9th to Michael Ireland's 7th.

Even in sports where Canada is a clear power, such as curling, we're experiencing difficulties. Shannon Kleibrink is a great curler, and ran into an extremely strong Sweden team today. I don't expect her to finish worse than 2nd in the round robin. However, Sweden didn't seem to let their role as Sports Illustrated's favourite for gold get to them.

Why is it that Canada can't seem to have its biggest performers come up big consistently when it counts? It seems for every Wayne Gretzky, Miriam Bedard, Gataen Boucher and Catrina LeMay-Doan, there are several Jeremy Wotherspoons. Is it an identity crisis? An inner feeling of inferiority? Or something in my imagination?

Let me also be the first to congratulate Michael Ireland and Arne Dankers for their personal bests in their races. Personally I consider their performances exceptional. However, they don't translate to the medal count.

All I can say is, if Canada's Winter Olympic medal count is under 20 at the end, the Own The Podium program is going to need a lot of work before 2010. And there will be a lot of high ranking officials who will have questions to answer, something which seems to happen regularly when Canadians are involved in high-level competition.

Hearts The Card Game - Why I Play

Hearts has the best of all card game attributes. Here are a few:

1. All the cards are dealt to 4 people, so no relying on the luck of the draw.
2. It's simpler than bridge, and you play as an individual, so there's a lot less fighting.
3. Even if your 13 cards look like they intentionally ended up in your hand, you can pass 3 of them away 3/4 of the time
4. You can either avoid all the hearts and the Queen of Spades or take all of them, giving you two options for success
5. Deciding to give your "bad" cards to specific player at the risk of ending up with them yourself is one of the great challenges, especially as the 100 barrier approaches

If you'd like to find out more about Hearts, please let me know

P.S. The round-robin portion of the Ontario Men's Curling Championship is complete. Harris, Howard and Middaugh finished with 7-2 records. 4 teams are tied for 4th at 4-5. Needless to say, the top 3 teams are the class of the field. Good luck to all of them on the weekend.

Fundraising Formula

Ever work on a fundraising event for your favourite non-profit organization, and wonder at the end of the day if it was worth it? Me too. While all events can be considered a success if they raise significant awareness of the cause, it's still a good idea to measure success in terms of monies raised. I have yet to meet a non-profit organization that has too much money.

Everyone wants to be part of a successful event. When an announcement is made of how much money was raised, the cheers are in direct proportion to the money raised. If the people organizing the event would've been better off throwing all their loose change in a piggy bank, many problems can result, with volunteer burnout being at the top of the list.

The formula that seems to give a good indication of the potential success of an event is:

Success = (total revenue - total expenses) / # of volunteer hours worked

While some people would say total revenue - total expenses (or net profit) is sufficient, I feel volunteer hours spent cannot be overlooked. The following two examples may make things clearer:

Example 1 - Net Profit $1000, # of volunteer hours 100

Here the non-profit raised $1000, which no one is going to throw away. However, the Success formula gives a value of $10. If a volunteer worked 10 hours on this event, she may decide next year to just donate $100.

Example 2 - Net Profit $1000, # of volunteer hours 2

Same net-profit, but now the Success formula gives a value of $500. This is an event I did a couple of years ago alone. Needless to say everyone was thrilled.

Please feel free to use the success formula when planning your next event.

Curling

If you want to see some excellent curling this week, check out the Ontario Men's Curling Championship this week in Guelph, Ontario. It's also available on Roger's and Cogeco local cable channels.

There are 3 clear favourites this year. Mike Harris has represented Ontario in the Brier (Canadian Men's Curling Championship) in 2004. However, he's probably better known as both a curling broadcaster and an Olympic silver medalist. He is NOT a former Ontario premier.

Wayne Middaugh is a former 2-time world champion curler, and the defending Ontario champion.

Glenn Howard has been runer-up to both teams the last two years to the above teams. He is also a 2-time world champion.

All of these teams were hopeful of playing in the Olympics. Only Howard made the Olympic trials, and did not survive the round-robin. Harris will be in Turin, Italy as a commentator only. In fact, he may miss announcing a game or two if he gets to the Ontario final.

I've had the pleasure of golfing with all 3 skips and Peter Corner, Middaugh's vice, over the years. Harris and Middaugh are pros; Howard and Corner are top amateurs. Corner is the 1996 Brampton Golf Club Match Play Champion. I know this because he beat me in the final!

I'm really torn, but I have to go with Glenn Howard. He's very famous, because we went to school together. He's the only one who hasn't been to the Brier this decade, and he's never been as a skip, something Messrs Corner, Harris and Middaugh have all done.

If any of these 3 teams win, I'll be fortunate to have a personal connection to the Ontario team yet again, as I have had in all but 2 of the last 22 Briers. It's great to see people you know at the top of their profession, especially knowing the sacrifices they've made to get there.

Now all I have to do is find out why knowing these guys hasn't gotten my curling game to their level!

Glad To Be Here

Hello. My name is Steve. I'm a newbie, and I'm glad to be here.
Just went this weekend to an Internet Bootcamp run by Internet Marketing Centre (IMC). It was, to quote the president and CEO of IMC, Derek Gehl, like drinking out of a fire hose. A lot of info to take in, but a lot of fun.
The main point was to take action, which is why I've now got my own blog. I'm looking forward to learning about cyberspace.

The main topics I'm interested in developing are the following (in alphabetical order):

Curling
Fundraising for Non-Profits
Golf
Hearts (the card game)
Time Management

Which one(s) interest you? Please let me know. Any and all comments are greatly appreciated.
Well, it's time for a Super Bowl update. Talk to you soon.

Regards,
Steve